Economically, environmentally and spiritually vital to India, the Ganges has long been considered one of the more polluted rivers in the world. Despite being used for bathing, ritualistic purposes and as little more than an open sewer, the Ganges provides fresh water to an estimated million people.
Fecal contamination and industrial waste from heavily industrialized cities such as Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi and Patna combine to make the waters of the Ganges both a hazard to human health and a serious environmental risk. The Citarum River is a km mile river that runs through West Java in Indonesia, and is often cited as the world's most polluted river. As many as 2, industrial facilities operate on or near the river, contributing to the dangerously high levels of lead, mercury, arsenic and other hazardous contaminants that pollute the waters.
River pollution is a concern even in Europe, where the European Union's Water Framework Directive commits member states to achieve "good qualitative and quantitative status of all water bodies". The best way of preventing river pollution is to capture pollutants before they are able to reach the watercourse.
While this may not always be easy, our combined sewer overflow CSO treatment and stormwater treatment systems provide effective and reliable capture of solids, oils and hydrocarbons, metals, chemicals and nutrients from stormwater and CSO sites. We'd like to update you on stormwater management news, articles and product developments. To sign up to receive updates just complete the form:. A ground-breaking Combined Sewer Overflow CSO trial is underway in eastern China to support a Chinese government initiative to encourage water innovation and improve urban inland river water quality.
We are a global company who provide advanced products, services and expertise to help municipal, industrial and construction customers to improve the way they process, treat and manage water. Soils and groundwaters contain the residue of human agricultural practices and also improperly disposed of industrial wastes. Types of water pollutants Pollutants can be of varying kinds: organic, inorganic, radioactive and so on. In fact, the list of possible water contaminants is just too vast to be listed here.
Polluted waterway. Nevertheless, we are now facing a gigantic challenge. How do we stop contaminating our rivers, seas, oceans, canals, lakes and reservoirs? Water pollution is endangering the health of millions of people around the world.
The waters of the River Ganges flow clear and clean through the Indian city of Rishikesh at the gateway to the Himalayas. In these mountains, nobody would guess that this water will be transformed into one of the most heavily polluted rivers in the world, with faecal bacteria levels up to 31 million per millilitres.
This is according to reports from Sankat Mochan Foundation, an organisation struggling to restore the Ganges to its former glory. These levels mean that the sacred river has become synonymous with water pollution, a worldwide problem affecting one in every three people on the planet, according to the United Nations UN. The World Health Organisation WHO says that polluted water is water whose composition has been changed to the extent that it is unusable.
In other words, it is toxic water that cannot be drunk or used for essential purposes like agriculture, and which also causes diseases like diarrhoea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid and poliomyelitis that kill more than , people worldwide every year. The main water pollutants include bacteria, viruses, parasites, fertilisers, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, nitrates, phosphates, plastics , faecal waste and even radioactive substances.
These substances do not always change the colour of the water, meaning that they are often invisible pollutants. That's why small amounts of water and aquatic organisms are tested to determine water quality. It is sometimes caused by nature, such as when mercury filters from the Earth's crust, polluting oceans, rivers, lakes, canals and reservoirs. However, the most common cause of poor quality water is human activity and its consequences, which we will now go on to explain:.
River and Stream Pollution Dirt Dirt is a big cause of pollution in our rivers and streams. Other stuff you might like Hazardous waste and chemicals are harmful to human health. They contain dangerous chemicals and can be a liquid, solid, or gas. Some of them can be found in your house or around you.
Learn more about hazardous wastes. For teachers. The Environmental Health Science Education website provides educators, students and scientists with easy access to reliable tools, resources and classroom materials.
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